“I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists”. Nelson Mandela

by Teshome Debalke

The youth of Ethiopia must come to the realization of the REALITY: your freedom is under siege by a brazen ethnic Apartheid tyranny ruling Ethiopia. Unfortunately most Medias are detachment from the reality and left Ethiopians vulnerable to the brutality of the regime.

Tyranny in general is failed brand. But, when you add ethnicity and organized corruption; you not only find a rotten brand of Apartheid but a stagnant system that make a mockery of liberty, justice, economic freedom and development.

Alex Haley, the American writer known for his bestselling book Roots once wrote;

The REALITY is the ethnic Apartheid regime in Ethiopia survives by institutionalizing segregation, violence, injustice, exploitation, and propaganda. Thus, it is not a political entity but an organized mob. That is precisely why it controls public and private institutions to deceit, purloin and torment Ethiopians. Make no mistake, only the beneficiaries nurture it from dying a natural death.

Obviously the benefit of Apartheid is the open season it provides its benefactors on the expenses of the people and doesn’t need much elaboration. After all, Apartheid is fundamentally designed to do just that. But, the costs to society continue to have far more implication for generation to come. Poverty, violation of rights, corruption, division, conflict, migration and nepotisms are visible for necked eye. Furthermore, there are more menacing costs invisible for a necked eye. Among them is maintaining fear society to disfranchise, subdue and subjugate the population in submission.

Here, it worth to note; ethnic based struggle outside the supremacy of the rule of law and the universal suffrage of ‘we the people’ perpetuate fear society became a primary obstacle on the struggle for freedom and the universal suffrage of ‘We the People’.

Therefore, it is not a matter of choice but survival to abandon the hyphenated struggle however intoxicating it may to the elites. It would be self-delusion to expect freedom and democracy from ethnic tyranny or the elites that marginalize justice as a tool for political game.

Nelson Mandela said;

‘Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul, and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all’.

Mandela was an extraordinary man not because he brought down Apartheid on its knees but, he did it in the name of justices for all. Had he decided to bargain justice for anything else; he would be another shameless African elite that live off his plunder; as we are witnessing over-and-over again when the people of Africa are reduced as pawn of corrupt elites in a position of power.

The question is; why do our contemporary ethnic elites divert us from justice and the universal suffrage of our people?

The ethnic elites’ crime against the people of Ethiopia

THE REALITY is our contemporary ethnic elites starting from the self-proclaimed Tigray elites that institute the failed brand of Apartheid held our people’s liberty hostage. By putting the cart before the horse they reduce justice and the universal suffrage of our people open for negotiation to sustain power and privilege. Therefore,’ us-against-them’ become their only currency to remain relevant.

The REALITY is the struggle for freedom and democracy is to institute the supremacy of the rule of law and universal suffrage of ‘we the people’. What are the motives of the ethnic elites?

The similarity of the South African Apartheid regime and ethnic elites’ complicity tells the story of our own divide society by the Apartheid regime in many ways than one, and the more reason to dismantle it faster than ever.

“under apartheid (after 1948) the division and control were more rigorous and these areas were called homelands. The idea was that the homelands would be like countries where the Black people could live and vote for their own governments, led by chiefs controlled by the apartheid state. As the White minority state expanded its divide and rule plan of control, there was a homeland for every major Black language in South Africa. These groups were called nations, and all Black South Africans were made citizens of one of these ‘homeland’ ‘countries’, regardless of where they had been born or where they now lived. The devastating forced removal of millions of now non-citizens of South Africa then became part of the history of our country” see South Africa History Online.

Dismantling ethnic Apartheid in Ethiopia

The dilemma Ethiopians faced to dismantle the rotten brand of ethnic Apartheid Woyane brought is the constant ethnic fragmentation of our people to prevent instituting the rule of law and universal suffrage of We the People.

Naturally, unity is incompatible with ethnic elites desire to use our people’s right and liberty as a bargaining chip for power and privilege. In other words, unity guarantees the rule of law supreme for all and ethnic fragmentation guarantees the rule of law as a bargain chip for ethnic elites’ political expediency to sustain the Apartheid regime.

Therefore, our collective inability to stand together on the nonnegotiable universal suffrage of our people left the door open for ethnic elites to bargain our people’s rights and freedom with the ‘devil’.

Institutionalizing the struggle on rule of law and universal suffrage

The REALITY is there is no known guarantee to liberty and universal suffrage but the supremacy of the rule of law of ‘we the people’. Only then we the people are able to choose freely what is best for us.

William Hazlitt, the English literary critic and essayist of the early 1800 said it best

Therefore, hyphenated elites love of power delayed our liberty by over two decades. How long should we wait before we stop them from distracting the struggle from achieving its goal?

Freeing public institutions from the jaw of tyranny and interest groups

The Reality is the struggle for freedom is freeing public institutions from the jaw of the Apartheid tyranny and interest groups, noting more. What it is NOT is a war between ethnic elites for power and privilege nor war between the people for the privilege of the ethnic elites as we are witnessing.

Therefore, the youth of Ethiopia have one and only one nonnegotiable task to do; organize under the supremacy of the rule of law and free public institutions from the jaw of ethnic tyranny and interest groups.

There are a dozen of critical political, legal, social, economy and security institutions the regime uses and abuse to torment and robe the people.

Therefore, the struggle for freedom is the war on the stooges of tyranny that run these public institutions.

For example, the Media airwaves the ruling tyranny held hostage are public institutions used as the Weapon of Mass Deception. Therefore, the struggle is not about freedom of the press but freeing the airwave from jaw of tyranny.

THE REALITY is public institutions are for the benefits of the public not for extending the life of ethnic Apartheid or for the privilege of interest groups.

To illustrate the crime of the ruling ethnic tyranny stranglehold of public institution, take the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology held hostage by Debretsion Gebremichael. The little man with the big crime of depriving access to internet technology for 90 million people is also a Deputy Prime Minister of the Nation and the Deputy Chairman of Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) along many titles under his belt, including cyber spy master to commit more crimes on the people of Ethiopia.

His background speaks for itself. He began early as TPLF combatant learning communication technology way before it was fashionable.

According to Wikipedia “He was sent to Italy by the TPLF and received training in communications technology. He led the team that launched the Dimtsi Woyane Tigray (The Voice of Tigray) radio station in 1980. Debretsion, along with “General Santim”, were famous hackers during the Ethiopian Civil War. They routinely hijacked, jammed and sabotaged the Derg’s radio, TV and military communication systems”

After TPLF came to power1991 “he joined Addis Ababa university while working full-time as the second man to Kinfe Gebremedhin (TPLF security chief assassinated within). He earned his Bachelors and Masters degree in electrical engineering from Addis Ababa University. While it has been claimed he pursued doctoral studies at (or even received a degree from) Harvard University, he is on record as having received a PhD from a distance program at Capella University in 2011”.

After long career of spying and jamming, Debretsion was appointed as a Director of the Ethiopian Information and Communication Development Agency (EICDA) in 2005. The Agency claim ‘to use information and communications technologies, in such a way that it contributes to the nation’s socio economic development and the building of democracy and good governance’. But, under his leadership depriving the public access to the technology and putting up surveillance on Ethiopians is what the agency and his education and experience was used.

After twenty three years of TPLF rule, access to internet remained the lowest in the world. According to Internet World Statistic, out of the 87,302,819 population of Ethiopia 960,331 (1.1%) have access to internet and 902,440 Facebook users. as of 2012, the latest data found.

To make matter worst, the one percent of the public with access to the technology that is supposedly to be used to ‘contribute to the nation’s socio economic development and building of democracy and good governance’ is used by TPLF functionaries for surveillance and propaganda.

Debretsion Gebremichael’s four decade of education and experience like most of his TPLF’s comrades you see in every public institution is depriving Ethiopians access to technology, information, freedom, rights, education and economic opportunity, sad to say but THE REALITY.

The youth of Ethiopia must mobilize to bring down one little Apartheid man after another in every public institution until there is no more. After all, every little mind in public institution serving the Apartheid tyranny is a menace to society, his profession and humanity at large.

“Between the anvil of united mass action and the hammer of the armed struggle we shall crush apartheid and white minority racist rule.”

The article is dedicated for the new causalities of the Apartheid regime, G7 leader Andargachew Tsige and Zone 9 bloggers that joined the list of their ‘terrorist’ compatriots in Woyane dungeons. Your sacrifice to pay for the ugliness of Apartheid is pillar of freedom and democracy. You are our Mandela Apartheid fear most in or out of prison.

The African Circus is coming to town. It is officially called “U.S-Africa Leadership Summit” (not Ringling African Brothers). It is scheduled to be held on August 5-6 in Washington D.C. The theme of the “Summit” is “Investing in the Next Generation”.

According to the pre-Summit hype, in the first ever “U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, African leaders will have an opportunity to engage with President Obama, his Cabinet members, and other key leaders, including business executives from the U.S. and Africa, Members of Congress, and members of civil society.” It is expected to be a 5-ring circus with stages for “expanding trade and investment ties, engaging young African leaders, promoting inclusive sustainable development, expanding cooperation on peace and security, and gaining a better future for Africa’s next generation.”

Human rights is definitely not on the menu. So, I must speak up! That is, speak truth to those in power who are indifferent to the powerless, those who abuse and misuse power and those who are “deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity”, as Thomas Jefferson might have said.

President Obama proclaimed on the Whitehouse web page, “I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world – partners with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children…” Is this some kind of “lawyerese” doubletalk? He specifically referred to “countries and peoples of Africa”. How about “leaders of Africa”? Are they a “world apart”? From a different world? “Partners” with America?

Of course, the “countries and peoples of Africa” are not coming to Washington, D.C. African “leaders” are. That’s where President Obama and I part ways. Maybe not. I do not see “leaders and partners” in the African “leaders”; I see the proverbial pig in lipstick, to borrow a campaign metaphor from President Obama. “You know, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called ‘change.’ It’s still gonna stink after eight years,” declared candidate Obama on his way to the White House.

I say you can assemble a whole bunch of African criminals against humanity, genociders, torturers and mass murderers in the White House and call them “leaders”, but after the lipstick wears off at the end of the day, they are who they are. You can wrap a whole bunch African dictators and thugtators in a fancy label and call them “partners”, but after rotting in power for decades, they stink to high heavens.

I don’t want to rain on the African Leaders Circus parade. I can almost hear my critics bellyaching, “Here he goes again bashin’ and ribbin’ African leaders. He just never cuts them no slack.” In my defense, I interpose paraphrased wisdom from W.C. Fields. “Never give a dictator an even break”. The point is I have to tell it like I see it. The so-called African leaders meeting in the White House, in my view, are a breed apart who crawled from a planet where the rule of law is anathema and government wrongs are dolled up as human rights.

Guess who’s coming to dinner at the White House?

The guest list of African “leaders” and “partners” includes the names of some of the 21st Century’s worst criminals against humanity, killers, torturers, con men and scammers in designer suits and sunshades. Here is a partial list:

Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya: In office since 2013, Kenyatta is on trial at the International Criminal Court on various counts of crimes against humanity in connection with the communal post-election violence in 2008. The U.N. estimated some 1,200 people died in Kenya in weeks of unrest between December 2007 and February 2008, and 600,000 people were forcibly displaced. I predict the case against Kenyatta will be dismissed for “lack of evidence” in October, unless it is continued again for the umpteenth time. (See my commentary, “Saving African Dictators from the ICC.)

Paul Biya of Cameroon: In power since 1982, the 80-year old Biya is Cameroon’s second president since independence in 1960. Biya has decades-long record of gross human rights violations including torture, extrajudicial killings and brutal crackdown on journalists, authors and protesting students.

Blaise Compaoreof Burkina Faso: After seizing power in a bloody coup in 1987, Compaore turned Burkina Faso into a private estate for himself and his cronies. His record of human rights violations include excessive use of force against civilians and detainees, maintenance of harsh and life-threatening prison conditions and massive corruption.

Paul Kagame of Rwanda: In power since 1994 (first as vice president and defense minister), a recent UN report accused Kagame of “stoking a rebellion in eastern Congo, across Rwanda’s border, that has led to the displacement of 300,000 people and the arrest, exile or killing of many political opponents and rivals.” Theogene Rudasingwa, Kagame’s former Ambassador to the U.S. reported hearing “Mr Kagame boast in 1994 that he ordered the shooting down of the plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana.” Kagame told BBC’s HardTalk programme in 2007 that he did not give a damn one way or the other. “I am not responsible for Habyarimana’s death and I don’t care, I wasn’t responsible for his security and he wasn’t responsible for mine either. He wouldn’t have cared if I had died and I don’t care that it happened to him.”

Yoweri Museveni of Uganda: In power since 1986, Museveni has a long record of human rights violations. Human Rights Watch in 2012 reported, “President Museveni’s government has steadily tightened a noose around the media, civil society, the political opposition, and anyone else who might criticise his governance style. Over a dozen members of parliament have faced police interrogations and in some cases criminal charges for speaking out or participating in demonstrations against government policy.”

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea: After seizing power in a bloody coup in 1979, Obiang has rigged every election to stay in office with more than 95% of the vote. Obiang’s son and “crown prince” Teodorin Obiang was the subject of a 46-page civil forfeiture action filed by the U.S. Justice Department in California and the District of Columbia. The allegations included “extortion”, “money laundering” and the “misappropriation, theft or embezzlement of public funds by or for the benefit of a public official” of a foreign government. (See my commentary, “To Catch Africa’s Biggest Thieves Hiding in America!”)

Idriss Deby of Chad: In power since 1990, Deby has an atrocious human rights record. According to the 2013 U.S. State Department human rights report, “the most significant human rights problems [in Chad] were security force abuse, including torture; arbitrary arrests and lengthy pretrial detentions harsh prison conditions, denial of fair public trial, executive influence on the judiciary, and property seizures.”

Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Inherited the presidency from his father at age 30 in 2001. Kabila is said to be “the highest-paid politician in the world, pulling in an astonishing $75 million between July 2012 and July 2013, a nearly $40 million lead over his closest competition.” His estimated net worth in 2013 was $215 million.

Jacob Zuma of South Africa: Reelected in May 2014, he is currently facing a corruption investigation. The South African public prosecutor accused Zuma of improperly spending nearly USD$7 million to improve his private estate, calling the expenditure, “unconscionable, excessive, and caused a misappropriation of public funds.” Chump change on the titanic scale of African corruption, but it says something about South Africa’s anti-corruption efforts.

Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria: He finally met the families of the abducted girls 100 days after the event. The terrorist group Boko Haram continues to massacre, maim and abduct thousands of innocent Nigerians every year as Johnathan dithers on whether to crush them, bribe them or amnesty them. According to the annual U.S. human rights report, “massive, widespread, and pervasive corruption affects all levels of government and the security forces” in Nigeria.

Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia: In power since 1994 when he was 29 years old following a military coup, the buffoonish Gambian leader shocked the world in 2007 by claiming that he is able to cure HIV/AIDS with concoctions of natural herbs and urged patients to abandon their retroviral medications. According to a 2014 Amnesty International report, Jammeh’s “government tolerates no dissent and commits serious human rights violations. Human rights defenders, journalists, political opponents and other Gambians who are critical of government policies continue to face intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, ill-treatment, death threats and enforced disappearance.”

Hailemariam Desalegn, the ceremonial prime minster of Ethiopia is expected to attend, though his puppet masters will remain in the shadows and within earshot as he hobnobs with the other African “leaders”.

There are some African “leaders” who apparently were not invited to dinner. Old Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and International Criminal Court war crimes suspect Omar al-Bashir will not be there. It seems the invitations sent out to the “leaders” of Eritrea, Guinea Bissau and the Central African Republic were lost in the mail.

To be perfectly frank, the thought of being in the same room (city) with these criminals and con men gives me the willies.

African beggars making a beeline at the White House?

President Obama is optimistic that these African “leaders” can “partner with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children.” I do not see it that way. I see them as beggars in America who strike a bad example of beggary for future African children.

The culture of beggary among African leaders is not something I discovered. It was foretold decades ago by the famed Nigerian nationalist, author and statesman Chief Obafemi Awolowo. In 1967, at the 4th Summit meeting of the Organization of African Unity, Chief Awo spoke prophetically: “Today, Africa is a Continent of COMPETING BEGGAR NATIONS. We vie with one another for favours from our former colonial masters; and we deliberately fall over one another to invite neocolonialists to come to our different territories to preside over our economic fortunes.”

African leaders, despite the millions and billions they have stolen and stashed away and Africa’s fabled wealth, are quintessentially beggars in the way they think and act. When they are not pulling out their guns and knives to rob, cheat and steal from their people, they are holding out their begging bowls for alms from the international community. Their motto is, “Ask what America, Europe, China… can do for Africa… Always.” They never ask what they can do for Africa by themselves without alms, charity and handouts from America, Europe or China.

Who paid for the new African Union (AU) headquarters inaugurated in 2012 in Addis Ababa? That was “China’s gift to Africa.” China picked the entire USD$200 million tab for the building, fixtures and furniture. The China State Construction Engineering Corporation constructed the building using nearly all Chinese workers. Could “China’s gift to Africa” be China’s Trojan Horse in Africa?

The late Meles Zenawi waxed poetic as he blessed the new building and consecrated the “continuing prosperous partnership” between Africa and China. Meles was the beggar-in-chief for Africa. He was the “step and fetch it” guy at all of the G-something and climate change summits. I hang my head in shame whenever I think of Africa’s wealth and resources and the supposed inability of African “leaders” to collectively come up with the chump change needed to build the most symbolic and iconic structure for the continent. They just had to beg!!! (See my commentary, “African Beggars Hall”.)

Africa has long been a bottomless pit for alms and handouts. Dambissa Moyo argues, “In the past fifty years, more than $1 trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Has this assistance improved the lives of Africans? No. In fact, across the continent, the recipients of this aid are not better off as a result of it, but worse—much worse.” In 2013, bilateral aid (from single donor country to a single recipient country) to sub-Saharan Africa was USD 26.2 billion. Total bilateral U.S. development assistance from the USAID and the U.S. State Department to sub-Saharan Africa was over $7.08 billion in FY 2012.

Is the Dragon eating the Eagle’s lunch in Africa?

Is the U.S. finally playing catch-up with China, the European Union and Japan who have been running African leadership summits (some say scams)? There is no question that China is today Africa’s largest bilateral trade partner. Could it be that the U.S. is finally realizing China is eating its lunch in Africa? ( See my commentary, “The Dragon Eating the Eagle’s Lunch in Africa?”.)

The Obama Administration has been talking about investments, trade, infrastructure development and stuff like that for a few years. Last year, President Obama announced his “Power Africa Initiative” which was supposed to increase American energy company investments with a $7 billion aid package to back it up. The only kind of power I see in Africa today is abuse and misuse of power by African “leaders”. (See my commentary, “Power Africa? Empower Africans!)

In 2012, President Obama invited a number of African leaders to a “Food Summit” and declared, “The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition is a shared commitment to achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth and raise 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years by aligning the commitments of Africa’s leadership to drive effective country plans and policies for food security.” To implement the “New Alliance” and spark a Green Revolution in Africa, dozens of global food companies, including multinational giants Cargill, Dupont, Monsanto, Kraft, Unilever, Syngenta AG signed a “Private Sector Declaration of Support for African Agricultural Development”. Are Africans more food secure today than they were 20 or 30 years ago? (See my commentary, “Food for Famine and Thought!”)

President Obama launched the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in 2010 as a signature initiative to support upcoming young African leaders. How many young Africans are being trained in the U.S. today to strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across the continent? It seems the most capable young Africans who could strengthen democracy in Africa — young journalists, bloggers, opposition leaders and peaceful dissenters — are being prosecuted, persecuted and jailed in large numbers. I wonder how many of the young leaders will actually return to Africa after tasting the good life in America! (See my commentary, “Will the U.S. Stand by the Side of Brave Africans?”

The “Awolowo Paradox”: How to kick the begging habit and beat the handout addiction

African “leaders” must heed the prophetic and paradoxical words of Chief Awolowo if they are to save Africa and themselves. In his 1967 speech, Chief Awolowo cautioned African leaders:

We may continue and indeed we will be right to continue to use the power and influence which sovereignty confers, as well as the tactics and manoeuvres which international diplomacy legitimatises, to extract more and more alms from our benefactors. But the inherent evil remains—and it remains with us and with no one else: unless a beggar shakes off and irrevocably turns his back on, his begging habit, he will forever remain a beggar. For, the more he begs the more he develops the beggar characteristics of lack of initiative, courage, drive and self-reliance.’”

I believe African leaders are rich beggars. When they look in the mirror, they do not see millionaires, billionaires and a continent brimming with wealth and resources. They see a reflection of themselves and a continent wallowing in an ocean of poverty and drowining in privation made opaque by corruption and human rights violation. They prove the proposition that poverty is not only a physical and economic state but also a state of mind. Because they are morally bankrupt, they must always beg and endlessly seek to engorge themselves with alms, handouts and charity. It makes them feel better. The “begging habit” and the handout addiction is in their blood stream and the only question is whether they “will forever remain beggars” as Chief Awo wondered so long ago.

As a human rights advocate, I would only remind President Obama of his own words when he visited Accra, Ghana in 2009. “…Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans, and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions…” I wonder if President Obama is making a big mistake by standing on the side of Africa’s “strongmen”.

I get the heebie geebies just imaging President Obama standing on the side of Africa’s “strongmen” and wining and dining them in the White House. Eeek!

My only question to President Obama is this: How can African “leaders” invest in the next generation when they are divesting and wasting the current generation?

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Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

The Ethiopian community in Houston is outraged to learn that the City of Houston and thee Greater Houston Partnership are hosting the Ethiopian dictator, Hailemariam Desalegn next week.

Ethiopia is a gross human rights violator, a totalitarian state, where people are deprived of their liberty and property rights by the regime. There is no freedom of the press, consequently most journalists are in prison or fled the country.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the UN, the U.S. Department of State, and Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have documented gross human rights violations committed by the incumbent criminal regime in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian people have been subjected to a vestige of abuse for generations. Just Last Friday, government forces attacked peaceful gathering of Muslims in Addis Abeba mosque killing a number of them. Last Month close to 40 university students at Ambo University were also killed for protesting government confiscation of land without compensation in Oromia region. The pathetic situation continues where 90 million Ethiopians have no freedom and no hope for improvement. The regime uses any tactics or measures necessary to stay in power including intimidation, patronage, kidnapping, open murder and political assassination.

Through its cronies and paramilitary forces, as well as party members it controls the economy and the political space in Ethiopia. Using the Federal Police regularly intimidates and kills at will on streets, schools, churches and mosques.

In Ethiopia besides the political oppression and ethnic tensions created by the regime, the government owns all land, Internet, food distribution, banking, telecommunication, and other industries causing massive inefficiency in production which in turn brings about massive starvation and unemployment.

According to Professor Mesfin, a leading human rights activist, “The government has placed itself above the law, rules the country by force, and exonerates itself from any crimes it commits against defenseless citizens and this makes up the saddest reality prevailing in present-day Ethiopia.” According to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, “paramilitary units continue to use random searches, beatings, mass arrests and lethal force against peaceful protesters.”

The Daily Telegraph calls the current situation “a systematic onslaught against the majority of the Ethiopian people,”. The Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Africa, Chris Smith, and R- New Jersey referred, Meles, the late Prime Minister as the “vicious dictator” of Ethiopia. Given these facts, the Ethiopian community will protest and urge those freedom- loving citizens of Houston to refrain from appearing or honoring Mr. Deslalegn or give credence to his local collaborators in Houston. We also urge the U.S. government to stop supporting African dictators who rule by the barrel of the gun instead of with the support of the masses.

The Ethiopian-American Muslim community in the Washington Metropolitan area is once again appealing to anybody who cares to listen about the gross human rights violation being committed by the ruthless ethnic based minority government of Ethiopia. We have been raising our voice for the last several years to draw the rest of the world’s attention to the atrocities committed by the Ethiopian government against its own people.

International and Regional Human Rights Watchdogs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch including NGOs and semi-governmental organizations have not only continuously condemned the Ethiopian government’s wholesale Universal Human Rights transgressions, they have also documented it for history. Unfortunately, our plea has so far been ignored by those we trusted the most to stand on the side of justice and liberty. As a result, the dictators in Addis Ababa have been emboldened to continue on their repression in a much wider scale. The Western donor countries, specially, the Obama Administration and the British government who are responsible for most of the foreign aid money Ethiopia receives have so far conveniently opted to look the other way while the minority ruling clique is running a system not that much different from that of North Korea. Are we Ethiopians any less human beings than the people of Ukraine who within minutes of their crises got the undivided attention of the West? How is history going to judge the West – the bastion of democracy – for propping up a dictatorship that has jailed the most journalists in the world, religious leaders and conscientious objectors? We know we are living in a very dangerous world that is infested with terrorism. Why is it not obvious for the West allying with a dictatorship that is terrorizing its own people defeats the purpose of the “War on Terror”? We know nations big and small are driven by their interests, but standing on the side of democracy, justice and rule of law must be unconditional. This is what the West has abdicated from for the last 23 years by standing on the side of the rogue regime in Ethiopia. Is the West really at peace with itself while the so called ‘significant ally’ in the “War on Terror” is terrorizing its own people?

Three years ago, Ethiopian Muslims embarked on a peaceful protest every Friday within the confines of their Mosques after the government closed the only Islamic Higher Education Institute in the country, and unabashedly in contravention to the Constitution of the country imported and imposed on them by diktat the unorthodox Ahbashi ideology. In an earnest attempt to seek redress and stop the interference in their religious affairs, Ethiopian Muslims gathered and elected an Arbitration Committee that started negotiating with the government.

Unfortunately, the government was not moved and convinced. Instead, it tried to use the mediation process to divide the Muslim community, further exacerbating the situation. Needless to say the government’s crackdown that followed resulted in numerous deaths, countless injuries, and arbitrary detentions. As part of the crackdown, about two years ago, the government arrested all the members of the Arbitration Committee and charged them with ‘Treason, Terrorism, and Attempting to Impose the Sharia Law in the country’. These Muslim Community leaders and thousands of others are still languishing in the notorious prisons across the country and being subjected to a vast array of inhumane treatment with no relief in sight. Undoubtedly, the country has been converted into a roofless giant prison.

Today, the scale of the oppression has widened. Muslim students have been banned from praying on college campuses. Several hundred female Muslim students have been expelled from colleges and universities for refusing to comply with the ‘No Hijab’ rules. Hundreds of students have been arrested for standing their grounds facing miscellaneous trumped up charges in kangaroo courts that serve only the twisted political agenda of the government.

Today, the majority of the Mosques in Ethiopia are headed by the ruling party cadres masquerading as true Muslims. Praying is restricted to neighborhood Mosques and IDs are checked at entrances by security agents. Today, it is becoming so difficult to be a Muslim in Ethiopia that Muslim religious leaders and scholars, and the youth are fleeing the country in droves as do followers of other faiths. Even other countries are not safe havens anymore. Recently, Ethiopian security agents abducted three leaders of opposition groups from Yemen and Kenya with the help of corrupt officials in these countries.

On July 18, 2014, while Ethiopian Muslims were conducting their Friday congregational prayer at the Anwar Mosque in the Capital City, they were attacked without any provocation by the much dreaded riot Police armed with gears from the West. As a result, a young man was killed, hundreds were injured and several unaccounted for. Thousands: male, female, old and young were rounded up and transported to a designated location where they were subjected to further beating. Hijabs were forcefully snatched off females’ faces just to humiliate them. A wounded man was dragged out of his doctor’s care and thrown into jail with a bullet still lodged in his back. We want the world to know that such acts of terror are repeated across the country on regular bases. How long does the West stay comfortable looking the other way and giving deaf ears to the plight of Ethiopian Muslims? Back in 1991, the ruling clique negotiated its way to power with the help of the US and the British Administrations. We believe, these two donor countries are responsible more than any other country and have the moral obligation and the leverage to force the dictators in Addis Ababa to submit to the will of the people and restore rule of law in the country before it is too late and the country succumbs into complete chaos.

Ginbot 7: Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy

Special Statement and Call for Action

The long and bitter struggle has now transitioned to a new chapter designated as “We are all Andargchew Tsege”. This communiqué briefly describes what this new chapter is about and what it constitutes. The tasks outlined here are not to be read and set aside rather a series of concrete plans to be put into action.

What does it mean to be Andargachew Tsege? Andargachew Tsege is our leader who stands for justice, freedom, democracy and equality, who has been paying and still paying the immeasurable sacrifices that the struggle requires. To be like Andargachew Tsege means to be humble but determined, patient but persistent, visionary and wise and always ready for action. What it means to be an Andargachew Tsege is to be that person ready to take the necessary measures to get rid of the brutal regime systematically destroying our country. To become an Andargachew Tsege means to be the salvation for our beloved country and our generation.

One of the reasons why the minority regime of the Tigrai People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has targeted Andargachew Tsege is because he is a leader who has managed to establish close ties between the armed Oromo, Afar, Ogaden, Gambella and other ethnic based organizations and Ginbot 7, our movement in a manner that renders ineffective the tribal junta’s propaganda. Above all what has become a thorn on the side of the TPLF is the strong working relations that he has created with The Tigrai People’s Democratic Movement (TPDM). By collaborating with TPDM, Andargachew has made TPLF unable to ride on the backs of the people of Tigrai. Therefore, to be an Andargachew Tsege also means to be free from ethnic hatred. What it means to be an Andargachew Tsege is to whole heartedly believe in the struggle and work with strong conviction for equal rights for all Ethiopians.

To be an Andargachew Tsege does not necessarily require being a member of Ginbot 7. To be an Andargachew Tsege only demands readiness to pay the price for the success of worthy objectives, irrespective of which organization one belongs to. To be like Andargachew Tsege is to comprehend fully that a resolute struggle needs to be backed by a strong organization.

Finally, to be like Andargshew Tsege means to be Okilo Aquagne, Andualem Arage, Reeyot Alemu, Eskinder Nega, Bekelle Gerba, Olbana Lelisa and the countless other heroes and heroines of the struggle.

While we will frequently update the focus of the “We Are All Andargachew Tsege” campaign, the focus of the initial stage of the global campaign that will be implemented immediately is presented in three stages.

The Focus of the First Stage of the Campaign

This first stage will focus on three areas: – Yemen, UK and the TPLF regime

I- Yemen

The Government of Yemen has, in contravention of international law, illegally abducted and extradited our leader to suffer at the hands of the monstrous regime. The appeals made to the Yemen Government right from the beginning were not given due attention. To date, the Government of Yemen has not officially admitted the fact that they have abducted Andargachew Tsege and handed him over to the brutal regime in Ethiopia. According to the evidence / information we have it is the Yemeni spy agency which is directly accountable to the President of Yemen which has carried out this act of banditry from detention to illegally rendering him on a special flight to Ethiopia. As a result of this criminal action the Government of Yemen has committed a grave historical mistake which can neither be forgiven nor easily forgotten. The Government and people of Yemen have to understand that their ill-advised and illegal actions will have major consequences.

The objective of our campaign is to express our outrage not only to the President and Government of Yemen but to the Yemeni population as well. The following activities are stated below as examples.

To write strongly worded letters addressed to the President of Yemen and send it via fax and e-mail to various governmental organizations and embassies in Yemen, in particular, the Embassy of Yemen in Addis Ababa. We advise those of you who are participating in the campaign in Ethiopia to exercise caution. When you send internet and fax messages you must do it in a way that will not expose you to danger.

To flood Yemeni embassies with protest rallies capable of disrupting their activities. Burn the effigy of the President and the Yemeni flag. This action should be taken only outside of Ethiopia.

To write letters to Yemeni communities based abroad and encourage them to protest against their government’s criminal actions; inform them clearly and categorically that if they do not protest against the illegal actions of their government, we will consider them as having sided with their government and declared war on Ethiopia

To boycott Yemen Airlines and all Yemeni commercial and business entities.

This is a major task that should be performed by Ethiopians within as well as those outside Ethiopia.

5. To single out Yemeni businesses in Ethiopia and boycott their products and services. Products (cookies or cigarettes made with Yemeni investment or imported from Yemen ) are considered to be goods tainted with the blood of our compatriots.

II- Britain.

We do not believe that the Government of the UK has done all that it could have done and should have done. The measures taken so far or are being taken were not prompt and speedy.

Therefore, our campaign objective as regards to the UK is to accuse the British Government of not giving serious attention to the matter and badger them so that hereafter they will give the matter immediate attention and follow up in order to have our leader released. The following activities are listed as examples.

To initiate a legal suit against the Government of Britain (This is something that will be carried out by the Secretariat of the Movement and the details will be made public later)

To write letters to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and send it to British embassies in large numbers especially the British embassy in Addis Ababa. Those compatriots who participate in the campaign in Ethiopia should take the necessary precautionary measures.

To hold protest rallies at the gates of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in London as well as British embassies in other countries.

III- TPLF Regime

The struggles against the TPLF regime must be aimed at throwing them out of power. It is the action oriented movement of those Ethiopian compatriots and popular forces who, instead of being humiliated and enslaved, have decided to give their lives as well as chosen to fall while strangling and being strangled by the brutal regime for the sake of freedom and justice, that will contribute the biggest share in the downfall of the tyrannical minority regime. Let us join them.

Compatriots who for various reasons cannot join the decisive struggle should organize themselves, while protecting themselves from the spy network of the TPLF underlings and prepare themselves to support activities which help this effort. It should be noted that the contribution of such activities is significant in terms of naming and shaming the TPLF cadres and supporters wherever they are found, denying them relief, exposing the crimes that they have committed to the public, depriving them of friends by exposing their identities to their partners or co-workers, weakening their financial strength and bankrupting their companies. The following activities should be undertaken from this perspective.

To get organized and work diligently to bring to justice the criminal TPLF officials and their supporters who are residing under various covers in the West as well as those who travel freely using the appropriate legal mechanisms in each country.

Create a situation where the TPLF regime’s embassies all over the world will not be able to perform their tasks.

Identify TPLF members and supporters wherever they may be (in their communities, universities, in their business) isolate and shame them as well as deny them access to any business or community contacts and expose their nefarious activities. Isolating members of the TPLF and their supporters from all contacts and not cooperating with them should also be carried out widely within Ethiopia.

Expose and humiliate TPLF officials (civil, military and security) visiting any country for business or pleasure and restrict their freedom of movement and make them the target of people’s anger for all the crimes they have committed. Within Ethiopia people should get organized and carryout surreptitiously and shrewdly similar activities without exposing themselves to attacks by TPLF security forces.

Boycotting the goods and services of TPLF owned companies and businesses including Ethiopian Airlines; and carrying out negative agitation campaign against them; becoming an obstacle and sabotage their activities in various ways in an organized manner and based on investigation and judiciousness. This must be carried out by all both in Ethiopia as well as outside of Ethiopia.

Avoid using Western Union, Money Gram as well as various currency exchange organizations established by the TPLF supporters in the US, Europe and the Middle East to send money to Ethiopia; find alternative methods of sending money in your local area; where alternatives do not exist use creative ways of sending money through friends and relatives to deny the regime access to funds; investigate all the available means of drying up the sources of foreign exchange, one of the major pillars for the fascistic rule of the TPLF, and weaken, undermine and demolish their financial and economic capability which is built on looting, ethnic favoritism and massive corruption.

Put pressure on foreign organizations working with the TPLF to cease their partnership, if they refuse to cut their ‘unholy alliance” carrying out major propaganda campaign against their businesses. (Specific details to be issued soon)

Strongly urge universities of Western countries to examine their relationship with Ethiopia; especially those universities and colleges that are engaged in granting TPLF officials fake degrees; inform their students what their university is doing. Write and fax letters requesting that the University of Greenwich terminate its relationship with the International Leadership Institute as well as review the Masters degrees it has given out to date. Send similar letters to Open University and other institutions working in partnership with the TPLF regime

Although this current campaign targets only the TPLF commercial enterprises and companies connected with wealthy domestic or foreign citizens, individuals will also be targeted by the campaign (A complete list will be issued soon)

Finally, we believe that other methods not found in this list but which are, nevertheless, effective ways of expressing protest, will emerge from the infinite creative capacity of the youth. Therefore, it is imperative to strengthen the campaign with ideas and creativity in each specific situation. This campaign should be launched with the understanding that it will intensify as time goes by and until the brutal TPLF regime is thrown out of power. Therefore, we will, from time to time, add new topics and strategies for the struggle.

We call upon the Ethiopian people, the global Ethiopian diaspora and all Ethiopian democratic forces to rise up armed with a unity of purpose and to get ready to work shoulder to shoulder for an action oriented struggle.

This campaign will bring about the desired results only when coordinated with the long and arduous struggle on the ground to get rid of the tyrannical regime of the TPLF. Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy makes a global call to all those who care about their freedom, dignity, and the dangers facing Ethiopia under the Fascistic rule of the TPLF to renew their commitment to the struggle to bring about the downfall of the TPLF regime to participate in this all around campaign of civil , disobedience, non-cooperation, and popular resistance to the full extent of their ability. Our struggle will succeed if we all stand together and pay the necessary sacrifice for the common good.

The US says it is ‘deeply concerned’ over prosecution of young social media activists. But Ethiopia is a key US ally on the Horn of Africa and any censure may remain rhetorical. By William Davison, Correspondent Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Ethiopia has charged 10 reform-minded bloggers and journalists with terrorism offenses – marking the latest in a long line of repressive acts against civil society by a key US partner in the Horn of Africa.

Seven of the 10 bloggers are part of a social media group called Zone 9. The group are mostly young urban professionals known for a fresh and reasoned approach to peaceful change — and who are increasingly well-respected – in an authoritarian nation known for a history of stifling free expression. With elections coming, some say the charges are an easy way for the government to link dissidents to terrorist groups and undermine them.

Six of the bloggers and the three journalists have been held since April, and are now charged under a 2009 terror law that has broad and loose terms. Analysts say these individuals may receive the same long prison sentences as opposition politicians and journalists recently sentenced on similar charges.

One Zone 9 blogger resides in the US and is being tried in absentia.

Government prosecutors say the bloggers are linked to a US-based Ethiopian opposition group called Ginbot 7 and were allegedly planning to overthrow the Ethiopian government.

The US, a major donor to Ethiopia as well as a security partner, frequently criticizes Ethiopia’s human-rights record; yet no aid cuts or formal censure have followed.

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said the US is “deeply concerned” about the charges and urged a fair trial. “The arrest of journalists and bloggers, and their prosecution under terrorism laws, has a chilling effect on the media and all Ethiopians’ right to freedom of expression,” Ms. Psaki said after the charges were announced Friday.

‘Quiet’ diplomacy

The West views Ethiopia as an important broker in ending a vicious civil war now underway in South Sudan. It is also a key ally in Somalia, where its military has for several years been fighting Al Qaeda-linked groups like Al Shabab, in that clan-riven nation.

Boston University Africa specialist Michael Woldemariam says Ethiopia’s strategic significance means the US is “unlikely” to condition aid to what is Africa’s second most populous nation. “I think quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy is the most likely way forward in ensuring the outcome of the trial is not particularly egregious,” Mr. Woldemariam says.

In a press conference hours after the first hearing Friday, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was unrepentant. He said those charged were part of a terrorist network centered around Ethiopia’s arch-rival Eritrea. He alleged that the network extends to Somalia, Kenya, and South Sudan.

“Whatever you see can be put into this equation,” the prime minister said about the network. “Be it a doctor, or a teacher, or a journalist.” While Somalia and Kenya have seen numerous terrorist attacks in the past year, Ethiopia has not experienced any attacks at home.

The subject of Eritrea is sensitive in Addis Ababa. Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year insurgency. Elites in the two nations fell out, leading to war from 1998 to 2000. Both sides have remained at loggerheads.

Ginbot 7, formed in exile by opposition figures, led a successful campaign against the ruling party in 2005 elections, which turned violent. (Security forces in Ethiopia killed hundreds of demonstrators and imprisoned opponents en masse.) That history led Ginbot 7 members to team up with Eritrea against the Ethiopian regime.

Open criticism of terror

The Zone 9 bloggers charged with terror are regarded as diligent and bold critics of the Ethiopian government. Yet those familiar with the group seriously balk at the terror links claimed by prosecutors.

Zone 9 bloggers, for example, openly criticized Ginbot 7 for its belief that armed struggle is justified in order to remove a dictatorship, says Zone 9 co-founder Endalkachew Hailemichael, currently a graduate student at the University of Oregon. The Zone 9 social media activists believe the only way democracy can be achieved in Ethiopia is through peaceful opposition, Mr. Hailemichael says.

In Addis Ababa, observers say that with elections upcoming, the bloggers were too outspoken. Accusing them of links to Ginbot 7 ties them to Eritrea and also to Somalia’s Islamic extremists that the Eritrean regime is accused of funding.

“This is part of a deliberate strategy by the government to marginalize its most dangerous critics in the run up to the 2015 elections,” says Woldemariam. “The existence of armed opposition, and Ginbot 7 links to Asmara, provide a useful bogeyman the government can invoke to tar and marginalize the real threat to its power: young activists that seek to operate non-violently within the system in an attempt to push political change.”

(AV) Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn faced a stinging humiliation as Azusa Pacific University (APU), whose motto is “God First”, has withdrawn an honor it had already bestowed on him. The university administration had to reverse its decision to honor Mr. Desalegn in light of gross human rights violations in Ethiopia being perpetrated by the regime he serves.

The administration of the American evangelical university made the decision in an emergency meeting last Friday after this reporter raised a number of critical questions on whether honoring a human rights violator was consistent with APU’s core values and motto. The Global Alliance for the Rights of Ethiopians (GARE) also wrote a letter highlighting gross human rights violations being perpetrated by Mr. Desalegn and the TPLF-led regime he is serving.

The honoring ceremony, which was slated for July 31 at the university’s Los Angeles campus, was expected to be attended by the PM and his family, foreign diplomats, the university faculty, senior U.S. and Ethiopian government officials including Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom and other ministers.

Rachel White, APU’s Assistant Director of External Relations, confirmed exclusively to this reporter that the university has withdrawn the honor and cancelled the ceremony which was planned to honor him at APU’s Los Angeles campus.

“I can confirm that the event has been cancelled. The university evaluated current developments in Ethiopia including the latest U.S State Department Human Rights Report,” she said. She also indicated that the recent high court decision to file terrorism charges against Zone9 bloggers and journalists was also one of the factors considered for the cancellation of the event to honor Mr. Desalegn.

“Nothing is as important as our motto God First. Any decisions we make have to be consistent with our motto and core values,” White noted. She also pointed out that respect for human rights are very important for the university. It is now confirmed that he cancelled his trip to Los Angeles after the university communicated to him its decision to cancel the honoring ceremony.

According to a university source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to give a statement on behalf of the university, APU’s administration unanimously agreed to withdraw the honor for Mr.Desalegn, whom it found to be an unsuitable honoree after evaluating not only the disturbing human rights situation in Ethiopia but also the potential negative publicity that the event was likely to generate. “It was a wise and timely decision, as the university was likely to face backlash if it publicly honored a human rights violator,” the source said.

Exiled journalist Serkalem Fasil, who was forced to give birth in jail, commended the university for correcting its mistake in good time. “I think this university did not know who Hailemariam Desalegn was. They should have known that Ethiopian government officials like him do not deserve honor but facing justice for the crimes they are committing against humanity.

Serkalem said Azusa Pacific corrected its mistake in an exemplary manner. “I am glad the university listened to the truth and its God First motto,” she said. Her husband, the award-winning journalist Eskinder Nega, is serving an 18-year sentence in Ethiopia after he and a number of journalists and activists were labelled “terrorists” by a Kangaroo court.

Abebe Belew, a Washington D.C.-based activist and community radio broadcaster, who was also convicted of “terrorism” offenses because of his critical views towards the repressive policies of the Ethiopian government, also praised the university for its decisive measure.

“This university is a truly Christian university. It made a bad decision but realized soon enough that honoring an ungodly human rights violator contradicted its Christian values. I appreciate the university’s administration for taking such a strong stand based on its God First motto,” he said.

“Hailemariam should also learn from the humiliating experience. He pretends to be a protestant Christian but what he is doing completely contradicts all the tenets of the bible.

“As APU has clearly demonstrated, he doesn’t deserve any honor as a human rights violator destroying the lives of so many people. I hope he and and members of this oppressive tyranny will face trial sooner rather than later. That is the kind of honor they really deserve,” Abebe added.

I HAVE A DREAM

BY DANIEL TESFAYE
WE Ethiopians have a dream

WE Ethiopians have a dream………..
…..one day our countery belong to one of the richest countery.
We have a dream………
…..one day our countery will be free from dictator government.
We have a dream………
…..one day our countery will be democrat countery.
We have a dream…..
…..one day all poltical prisoners in Ethiopia will be free from prison.
We have a dream…..
…….one day we can live together in our countery with peace and unity
If We need our dream to come true ,we have to struggle together in order to get rid off one of the worst and dictator EPRDF government from our countery.